Dance with Me
by Books In the Blood
Summary: Henry sees every little detail about people's lives, especially when it comes to his closest friend James. So when James begins to distance himself from Henry and act strange, it surprises Henry that he cant figure out what is bothering him. When the truth comes out, Henry discovers that he missed one very key part of James' personality.


Henry fancied himself a great judge of character. He could look at a complete stranger and tell you about their job, their family, what kind of morals they had; he could pick out small, almost invisible details that no one else could see and make the most of them. He could do this with strangers and so the people that he knew well were subject to his 'sherlockian' powers of deduction even more. Most people hated this about him and he kept his observations to himself. But James, his closest and truly only friend since he'd come to America, was the exception. He didn't take offense to Henry's deductions even when they referred to him.

After knowing James for several months, Henry felt he could describe him fairly well. He was an excellent doctor who worked tirelessly and was fantastic with the patients. He was funny; he never failed to put Henry in stiches with humor that could be classy or shamelessly dirty depending on the situation. He was bright and energetic; he exuded confidence and got along well with everyone. He didn't know a stranger and could talk intelligently about various subjects for hours on end; Henry was never bored with him. They could spend all day together working and then still want to spend the whole evening together at dinner or having drinks or just taking long walks. James was one of the touchiest people Henry had ever been around; hugs, hands brushing together, casually fixing Henry's tie or buttons when they were out of place. Henry didn't mind it; he was an affectionate person himself. He knew James extremely well and his deductions were always right. How he'd missed one extremely obvious part of James' character, he had no idea.

When James fell into an ill mood that lasted for days and stretched into weeks, Henry knew that he had to do something. James' sunny disposition seemed to gradually darken and he became quiet and withdrawn. He didn't want to go out with Henry most nights and seemed to avoid talking to him and flinched back from the smallest touches. Henry hated it; James had become so important to him and he couldn't stand the distance. He knew that James was hurting; he could see it on his face even though he wouldn't speak about it. He didn't want him to suffer alone and he wanted his friend back.

So when Henry confronted him one night after everyone had gone home he didn't want to take no for an answer. James was at his desk reading glasses perched on the edge of his nose while he poured over paperwork. When he saw Henry, his slumped posture instantly became tenser.

"I was thinking about stopping by that Italian place that we both love so well for dinner" Henry said, trying for casual. "Care to join me?"

James looked defiantly down at his papers. "No…I've got too much to do tonight. Maybe next time" James said dismissively.

Well, the carefree approach hadn't worked so Henry went for a more direct method. He leaned over James' desk, putting his hands over James so that he couldn't hold his papers anymore. James' head snapped up and his eyes met Henry's.

"That's what you always say now, James" Henry said, his voice open and vulnerable. "I miss you. Please come to dinner with me."

Silence hung uncomfortably for a moment before Henry saw exactly what he was hoping for. A wide grin spread across James' face. "Okay" James relented, his voice lighter than Henry had heard in weeks.

…..

Henry was sure that he was helping James as the night went on. While he refused Henry's offer to open up about what was troubling him, saying he was alright, he seemed to get cheerier the more that dinner went on. They sat in a corner booth, away from most of the other patrons and Henry was relieved when James seemed to open up to his usual, talkative self. As dinner stretched on into drinks and dessert, and the conversations lingered, they had easily spent hours there. Henry was feeling a pleasant glow, due to the alcohol and pleasant company, as they made their way out of the restaurant and down the street to a club they often frequented. It was a beautiful, warm spring night and they walked slowly, talking and laughing, in no hurry to get anywhere.

The night had been going so well that Henry wasn't sure where he had gone wrong by the time they got to the club. The club was busy, full mostly of young and attractive singles like himself and James. Wanting to get James to relax, Henry encouraged him to dance with someone. There were more than enough attractive ladies for James to choose from but he turned them all down. When Henry thought about it, he had never seen James dance with anyone on their nights out and he thought that was strange. Someone as attractive, charming and social as James shouldn't have had any trouble finding someone. Thinking that perhaps for some reason he was shy, Henry kept encouraging him. Rather than making him at ease, it seemed to put him off. Giving him a moment of space, Henry danced with one of the women that had come over wanting to dance with James but who he had turned down. He hoped that when he came back James would be feeling better. When he returned, he looked worse than ever.

James was sitting slumped at their table, the table he hadn't left all night. He was downing his drink; Henry had lost count now of how many he'd had. It was not uncommon for him and James to have a little too much to drink but he had never seen James drink so much in excess. As Henry walked to the table, James looked at him with a distasteful glance before throwing some money down on the table and beginning to walk out of the club.

Henry rushed forward to catch up with him before he could make it out the door. "James….wait!" Henry said, reaching out to grab James' wrist.

James turned around, pulling his hand back so Henry couldn't touch him. "Where are you going?" Henry asked.

James' face was pale and his eyes bloodshot; he looked miserable. "I'm leaving, Henry" he said shortly before pushing his way out of the door. Henry was quick on his heels. He caught up with him half way down the lawn, reaching out again for James' arm. This time he didn't pull away.

"James…..talk to me. Tell me what's wrong?" Henry beseeched him. The sound of people talking and the music of the club was faint out here and he hoped that James might be more willing to talk out here alone.

When James turned around Henry was horrified to see the look of such sorrow and pain on James' face that it made him break inside. Henry was sure that he saw tears in James' eyes but he was careful to hold them back.

"Do you know what it's like, Henry?" James asked, his voice cracking slightly from emotion. "Do you have any idea what it's like to go around every day wanting someone so much and knowing that you can never have them?"

Henry was frozen; were they getting to the root of the matter now? Was this why James had been so despondent lately? Had he been slighted by a lover? If James was suffering heart break then he had been terribly insensitive by trying to push him toward another woman. "I'm sorry, James…..I had no idea" Henry tried to say but James was shaking his head with a bitter laugh.

"It's my fault really" James said, "I should have known better. I obviously had the wrong idea about what was happening here tonight"

Henry was beginning to get confused but he was reluctant to show it. "What do you mean?" Henry asked, trying to not seem completely lost.

It was not lost on James. "Really, Henry?" James asked in exasperation. "How can you be such a genius and yet be so dense about certain things? I can only assume you don't see it because you don't want to!"

James was getting more impassioned with each word and it was worrying Henry. Henry saw everything; how had he missed whatever this was that was so important to James? "What? What am I not seeing?" Henry asked desperately, wanting to understand.

James ran a hand through his hair, taking a deep breath as if Henry was trying his patience. "You just kept pushing me" James said, "I didn't want to dance with any of those women. The only person I have any desire of dancing with is the one person who I can't stop thinking about, the one person who consumes more of my thoughts and affections every day"

"Who?" Henry asked. He couldn't understand why James couldn't just come out and say it. They could talk about anything for hours on end about anything, why couldn't he just tell him?

Still, James didn't tell him what he meant. Instead, he put his hand on Henry's hip, using it to pull him closer as he put his other hand in Henry's. Henry instantly froze, his heart hammering as he realized the proximity to James. Their chests pressed together, Henry could feel James' heart racing, his hand sweaty and clammy in Henry's. His face was only a few inches from James and when their eyes met, Henry didn't see the sorrow he'd seen before. Burning in James' eyes was undeniable desire.

 _Oh…_

"Oh…"Henry said, his breath taking away as the realization hit him full force. He normally was so articulate but that was all he could manage. How had he not seen it? He'd been completely oblivious but now that he could see it he didn't know how he'd missed it. All of the pieces were falling into place.

James laughed at Henry's reaction but it was a nervous laugh. "Have I managed to make Henry Morgan speechless?" he asked.

 _"_ _Do you have any idea what it's like to go around every day wanting someone so much and knowing that you can never have them…._ _The only person I have any desire of dancing with is the one person who I can't stop thinking about, the one person who consumes more of my thoughts and affections every day"_

The words hit Henry hard when he realized that James was speaking about him. The poor mood that James had been in for weeks now was all because of him? As Henry thought back to the signs he didn't know how he'd missed it. Henry's heart was swelling with affection for his friend in a way that it never had before. Henry wasn't homosexual; he never even considered being with a man before. If any other man made a pass at him, Henry would turn him down without a second thought. But James…James was different. They were friends but it was the closest, most intimate friendship that Henry had ever known. And he couldn't deny the quick beat of his heart feeling James' hand in his own. It was….. _unexpected._

"It's okay if you don't feel the same way I do" James went on when Henry was silent. "I know that my feelings are…..unconventional to say the least. And if you don't feel the same way, I'll never speak of it again and we can go back to just being friends. I just…I just had to say something. I just had to take a chance"

Henry knew that things could never be the same. He could never dismiss James and cease be aware of how he felt. It would create a rift between them that they could never recover from. And while Henry wasn't sure about all of this, he was sure he wanted to try. It wasn't just the giddy excitement of doing something new after decades of stagnation; the idea of adding a physical relationship to a friendship that ran so deep was incredibly tempting.

Henry couldn't find words and he could see James growing more anxious by the second. His face turned red in the glow of the moonlight and Henry could feel his hand growing clammier. "Henry…..say something…..anything….." James nearly begged when Henry just stared at him. For Henry, who talked nearly nonstop, to be quiet this long it must appear that he was not alright with the change of events.

But instead of saying something which he was sure would come out all wrong, Henry matched James. He put his hand on James back, closing the sparse distance between them. With his heartbeat in his throat, Henry leaned in to kiss him. It was chaste, merely experimental; lips slightly parted but not enough to deepen the kiss. Just a gentle press of his lips against James' but he felt the excitement hit his stomach, his heart beat quicker. It shouldn't have felt so good; he felt he should have been more hung up on the fact that he was kissing a man and enjoying it at that but he wasn't. Because it wasn't just him kissing a man; it was James and that made all the difference.

When Henry felt James jumped slightly, it spooked Henry and he pulled away. "Sorry" Henry said, feeling the need to apologize though he didn't know why. He could see by the smile on James' face that the kiss was not unwelcome. James was smiling ear to ear; it had been so long since Henry had seen him this happy that he felt a wave of relief.

"Henry, you don't have to apologize for that…far from it" James said good humoredly. "I was just surprised….are you okay with this?"

James was still giving him an out, a way to save face if he didn't want to make this huge step with him. But Henry was sure that he wanted to try. It had been so long since he'd felt this excited, this unsure and he liked it. As much as he already enjoyed being in James' company he couldn't fathom why more of it would be a bad thing.

"I am completely unaccustomed to being with a man" Henry admitted, "But yes, yes I am sure. I already care for you so deeply as a friend, I want…I want to see where else this can go" Henry felt nervous and excited as he stumbled across his words in a fashion most unlike himself.

He felt his nerves ease as he saw the glow of happiness on James' face at his words. "Well, then that'll be the first thing I've ever known more about than you" he said with a smile before growing more serious. He looked at Henry with a look of such admiration and devotion it startled him. He wondered how long James had really been looking at him with such affection; a look that spoke of more devotion than Henry had ever found himself given in all of his long years.

James started to move slightly, dancing ever so slowly as he kept his hold tight on Henry. "Dance with me, Henry" he said, his voice thick with adoration and want, "And we'll see where it goes."


End file.
